# Are any closet Tea Partiers on the Dope? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 14, 2010, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-closet-tea-partiers-on-the-dope/536104 "2010-04-14T19:00:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2010, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-closet-tea-partiers-on-the-dope/536104/41 "2010-04-15T17:00:43Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > Since when are you perfectly ordinary? This reads like a snide insult, and it’s not appropriate for this forum. Please don’t do this in the future. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2010, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-closet-tea-partiers-on-the-dope/536104/42 "2010-04-15T17:00:51Z")
> [@Diceman](#): > > The hostility in modern politics is disquieting, but what really turns my stomache is how liberals seem to have a deep-seated need to portray their opponents as a bunch of morons. You see it constantly on this board. It’s hard to be civil with someone who talks about you like you just wandered out of a Special Ed class. I’ve noticed that as well. I wish there were more conservatives around. I’d be interested in finding out what they actually think versus what liberals say they think. ETA: I realized I used ‘‘liberals’’ in the 3rd person. I am actually a liberal myself. I’m interested in finding out what you actually think versus what we say you think? Something like that. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2010, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-closet-tea-partiers-on-the-dope/536104/43 "2010-04-15T17:10:06Z")
> [@Diceman](#): > > I’m not a Tea-Partier, but I’m sympathetic to their goals. I’m moderately conservative on social issues, but I’m very much against Big Government. > > The hostility in modern politics is disquieting, but what really turns my stomache is how liberals seem to have a deep-seated need to portray their opponents as a bunch of morons. You see it constantly on this board. It’s hard to be civil with someone who talks about you like you just wandered out of a Special Ed class. Conservatives don’t help themselves with nonsense like “death panels,” amd “socialism,” and "birth certificate, and if you listen to talk radio or watch Fox News, you’ll see liberals portrayed in far more derogatry, hyperbolically, hyperventilating, demonic (sometimes literally so) terms than anything coming from the left. Nobody with Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin as the spokespeople for side has any business complaining about being perecived as intellectually lacking. ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2010, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-closet-tea-partiers-on-the-dope/536104/44 "2010-04-15T17:16:24Z")
> [@dhkendall](#): > > Mmmm, I’m getting hungry. > > And horny. Well, stay out of my refrigerator. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2010, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-closet-tea-partiers-on-the-dope/536104/45 "2010-04-15T17:22:42Z")
> [@trupa](#): > > Speaking as a foreign oberserver of American politics (I’m Canadian) it seems to me that the American left is all in favour of protest and such, so long as it is on the progressive side, but protest on the other side seems to bring out a sense of indignation and scorn worthy of one who blasphemes a deity, except that that would probably be more OK, with freedom of expression and all. The left is fine with protest as long as it doesn’t degenerate into racist name-calling, spitting, violence, and death threats. These people are overwhelmingly members of the right and the Tea Baggers. > [@trupa](#): > > But what worries me even more is the ever increasing acrimony, bitterness and hatred in the culture wars in the US. Witness the venom directed a Sarah Palin, or the threats of violence at lawmakers who voted for Health Care reform. As a great admirer of the US, warts and all, I greatly fear that increasing polarization will achieve more than the USSR and Al-Queda ever dreamed of… Sarah Palin thinks that living near Russia gives her foreign policy experience. She thinks Obama is a closet Muslim and not a US citizen. She equates the reformed health care bill watered down by Pubs to be socialist and fascist. She can’t name a single Supreme Court case she disagrees with except Roe v. Wade and then blames the media for “gotcha” questions. She can’t even name any publications she reads! Sarah Palin deserves every bit of venom she gets, and then some Don’t kid yourself, the threats to lawmakers are all coming from the Tea Baggers and the right. I want to say “extreme right” but these people are actually probably the majority of the right wing nowadays and make up their core base. If you fear for polarization of US politics, then you should be against these Tea Baggers and everything they stand for ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2010, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-closet-tea-partiers-on-the-dope/536104/46 "2010-04-15T17:29:46Z")
> [@olivesmarch4th](#): > > [Poll Finds Tea Party Backers Wealthier and More Educated.](http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/15/us/politics/15poll.html?hp) > > An article by that bastion of conservative journalism, The New York Times. > > I’m not conservative at all, but I always love being surprised by data. Maybe the media tends to show the worst of the worst of the Tea Party movement. This poll makes members seem more or less normal, just very conservative. > > Of course, the poll doesn’t indicate what population was polled… maybe Tea Party members who read the New York Times/CBS News are more likely to be educated/wealthy. That story also had the following quote: > [@](#): > > “I just feel he’s getting away from what America is,” said Kathy Mayhugh, 67, a retired medical transcriber in Jacksonville. “He’s a socialist. And to tell you the truth, I think he’s a Muslim and trying to head us in that direction, I don’t care what he says. He’s been in office over a year and can’t find a church to go to. That doesn’t say much for him.” If the tea partiers are indeed more educated than the general populace - well, that doesn’t speak well of our education system. ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2010, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-closet-tea-partiers-on-the-dope/536104/47 "2010-04-15T17:30:48Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > We did. You don’t think his approval rating was at 25% just due to democrats, do you? According to this poll, 57 percent of baggers have a favorable view of Bush. ---
**Author:** ![Zeriel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/58956e/32.png) [@Zeriel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeriel)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2010, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-closet-tea-partiers-on-the-dope/536104/48 "2010-04-15T17:52:03Z")
I’m somewhat sympathetic with the stated ideals of the Tea Party movement (smaller government, balanced budgets), but I’m heavily at odds with their chosen policy objectives in support of those ideals. Additionally, I had the opposite experience from **Clothahump**. I attended a few Tea Party style events in Central PA in 2009, and they had a strong showing of people with clearly racist agendas and misspelled signs (I’d estimate the percentages at 35% and 75% respectively), even in the fairly diverse college town I live in. I wouldn’t be surprised to hear there’s a tremendous amount of regional variation in the proportion of Tea Party types who are racists vs. those who are honest proponents of the various policies. As I’ve said in other threads, at least in my county (and to a lesser extent, state-wide and regional) Republican organizations that I’m plugged in to, it seems like the primary motivating factor of the Tea Partiers is that many of them feel completely disenfranchised and to an extent cheated when the national government isn’t in the hands of “movement” conservatives. The fact that we have a black president and a female speaker serves to add some fire from the stuck-in-1850 fringe. ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2010, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-closet-tea-partiers-on-the-dope/536104/49 "2010-04-15T18:51:13Z")
If you adjust for the demographic background that they come from, the Tea Partiers are neither particularly educated or wealthy. They are 90% white, mostly male and over 45 years of age. Of course they’re wealthier and more educated than the general public, which includes the urban poor and minorities. The leadership has been begging their members to leave the nasty signs at home and to tone down the chants, so that they’ll look like a more reasonable collection of people. [http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/documents/2010/04/email-to-columbus-tea-party-supporters-41210.php?page=1](http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/documents/2010/04/email-to-columbus-tea-party-supporters-41210.php?page=1) ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2010, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-closet-tea-partiers-on-the-dope/536104/50 "2010-04-15T18:57:10Z")
> [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](#): > > There are probably people who agree with the Tea Party platform, but are embarrassed by the movement’s behavior. _Waves hand_ ---
**Author:** ![Lestrade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/94ad74/32.png) [@Lestrade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lestrade)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2010, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-closet-tea-partiers-on-the-dope/536104/51 "2010-04-16T03:58:23Z")
> [@dhkendall](#): > > I’d love to, but don’t know much about implementation, et al. (Yes, I use FF and Greasemonkey). I’m thinking that, plus low visibility (as opposed to Arnold’s picture thread), is the reason why so few use it. > > Thread hijack I know, but can you inform me somewhere how to use it? Er, I think **wierdaaron** would rather I didn’t. It’s still in development, so he’s trying to keep track of how many people are using it. If you [PM](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/private.php?do=newpm) him he can send you the link. By the way, only 89 users have badges, so this data suggests that roughly 3% of active posters on this board are members of the Tea Party (since lurkers don’t have badges). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-any-closet-tea-partiers-on-the-dope/536104.md?page=2)